State risk discourse and the regulatory preservation of traditional medicine knowledge: The case of acupuncture in Ontario, Canada.

Several United Nations bodies have advised countries to actively preserve Traditional Medicine (TM) knowledge and prevent its misappropriation in regulatory structures. To help advance decision-making around this complex regulatory issue, we examine the relationship between risk discourse, epistemology and policy. This study presents a critical, postcolonial analysis of divergent risk discourses elaborated in two contrasting Ontario (Canada) government reports preceding that jurisdiction's regulation of acupuncture, the world's most widely practised TM therapy. The earlier (1996) report, produced when Ontario's regulatory lobby was largely comprised of Chinese medicine practitioners, presents a risk discourse inclusive of biomedical and TM knowledge claims, emphasizing the principle of regulatory 'equity' as well as historical and sociocultural considerations. Reflecting the interests of an increasingly biomedical practitioner lobby, the later (2001) report uses implicit discursive means to exclusively privilege Western scientific perspectives on risk. This report's policy recommendations, we argue, suggest misappropriation of TM knowledge. We advise regulators to consider equitable adaptations to existing policy structures, and to explicitly include TM evidentiary perspectives in their pre-regulatory assessments.

Application of in vitro neurotoxicity testing for regulatory purposes: Symposium III summary and research needs.

Prediction of neurotoxic effects is a key feature in the toxicological profile of many compounds and therefore is required by regulatory testing schemes. Nowadays neurotoxicity assessment required by the OECD and EC test guidelines is based solely on in vivo testing, evaluating mainly effects on neurobehavior and neuropathology, which is expensive, time consuming and unsuitable for screening large number of chemicals. Additionally, such in vivo tests are not always sensitive enough to predict human neurotoxicity and often do not provide information that facilitates regulatory decision-making processes. Incorporation of alternative tests (in vitro testing, computational modelling, QSARs, grouping, read-across, etc.) in screening strategies would speed up the rate at which compound knowledge and mechanistic data are available and the information obtained could be used in the refinement of future in vivo studies to facilitate predictions of neurotoxicity. On 1st June 2007, the European Commission legislation concerning registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) has entered into force. REACH addresses one of the key issues for chemicals in Europe, the lack of publicly available safety data sheets. It outlines a plan to test approximately 30,000 existing substances. These chemicals are currently produced in volumes greater than 1ton/year and the essential data on the human health and ecotoxicological effects are lacking. It is estimated that approximately 3.9 million test animals (including 2.6 million vertebrates) (Hartung T, Bremer S, Casati S, Coecke S, Corvi R, Fortnaer S, et al. ECVAM's response to the changing political environment for alternatives: consequences of the European Union chemicals and cosmetics policies. ATLA 2003;31:473-81) would be necessary to fulfill the requirements of REACH if the development and establishment of alternative methods is not accepted by regulatory authorities. In an effort to reduce animal use and testing costs within this tonnage band, the European Commission has advocated the use of alternative approaches. Neurotoxicity testing is not directly addressed within REACH, however when alerts are observed based on organ specific toxicity studies then neurotoxicity assessment has to be performed. This session at the 11th International Neurotoxicology Association Meeting provided a forum to openly discuss and debate the potential of in vitro testing strategies that could be relevant for neurotoxicity evaluation in the context of regulatory requirements. The EU FP6 project A-Cute-Tox was presented as an example of a possible in vitro testing strategy for prediction of human acute systemic toxicity. Other presentations focused on the characterization of the available in vitro models (cell lines and primary culture) and neuronal specific endpoints, with a special emphasis on electrical activity, metabonomics and modulation of vesicular neurotransmitter release as possible neuronal endpoints relevant for in vitro neurotoxicity testing. Finally, it was underlined that in vitro systems (strategies) that have the potential to be applied for neurotoxicity assessment have to be formally validated under standardised conditions that have been recognised by national and international validation bodies.

El alcance del derecho a la vida en relación con el concebido según el Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos

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De la intimidad genética al derecho a la protección de datos genéticos. La protección iusfundamental de los datos genéticos en el Derecho español (A propósito de las SSTC 290/2000 y 292/2000, de 30 de noviembre) (Parte II) / From genetic intimay to the Right of protecting genetic data: the

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[A proposal of actuation for environmental health in Spain: contribution for a pending debate]. / Una propuesta de actuación para la salud ambiental en España: contribución para un debate pendiente.

In the context of Public Health in Spain, Environmental Health does not possess the consideration it should have, according to the General Health Law and to the attention given to it frequently by our politicians in their speeches. The objectives of this paper are, on the one hand, to make a working proposal in the Environmental Health arena for the different Autonomous Communities in our country that takes into consideration, both the historical context from which we depart, and the philosophical standpoint we believe must underlie in the proposals; and on the other hand, that this working proposal be able to connect with the concerns and the social sectors that can give it the sufficient energy it requires to be reactivated on behalf of the prevention of environmental hazards. Besides, another underlying purpose of this group is that starting from this opinion paper, we can open a debate about the role of Environmental Health. We consider that this debate has been delayed for much time. We propose a serious debate; scientific, reflexive, critical, deep and vehement, so that Environmental Health will come out to the light with its own tools; those of the fields of Environmental Epidemiology, Toxicology and the Evaluation of the Environmental Impacts on Health.

Política sanitaria y legislación en materia de medicina indígena tradicional en México / Health policy and legislation concernig traditional indigenous medicine in Mexico

Diferentes instancias de gobierno, tanto estatales como federales, etán tratando de establecer el control y la medicalización de reconocimiento fortalecerla como instancia de primer contacto, generando, de sta manera, que la comunidad absorba los costos iniciales de la atención médica, lo que coadyuva a disminuir el volumen de enfermos atendidos por las instancias oficiales; obteniéndose así el abaratamiento de los costos de la atención de salud institucional dirigida a estos grupos. Los médicos indígenas tradicionales y sus organizaciones ven a esta ley cómo una navaja de doble filo, vislumbrando, por una parte, la posibilidad de contar con instrumentos legales que les protejan ante la sociedad global y, por otra, el peligro de ver su cultura y sus práctivas destruidas, por lo que han optado por buscar asesoría, capacitación, así como por participar activamente en el proceso de construcción de estas leyes. El resultado de dicho proyecto es que han aprendido sobre derecho positivo mexicano; sobre eta base, han podido discutir y concluir que es lo que quieren por ley, para lo que han elaborado una propuesta, incluida en este documento.